Not Enough Tears To Shed
by kiri-iwa-mist-stone
Summary: When people die... what happens? People can forget... but, would you really want to be forgotten? Just like that? This is my second fanfiction, so there are some things that do not really match other things. Beware: Some people may be a tiny bit OOC. i hope not that much people are. ShikaTema and NejiTen. Later on there is SasuSaku.
1. Chapter 1

Not Enough Tears To Shed

Disclaimer: This goes for all chapters. I do not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. The only thing that I own is the strange plot that does not really make sense.

This is a made to be a sad fan fiction. Oh well if it isn't to you.

Chapter 1: A Few Seconds Left

Shikamaru is coughing out blood constantly and Temari is there beside him, desperately trying to attempt medical ninjustsu. She tried her best and even called for help. However, Sakura was busy and the others only new the basics like her. Shikamaru however, was trying to communicate between his coughs. He said that there were only a few seconds left to his life. During his last few seconds, he was angry with himself to let himself get killed. He thought about how he got seriously injured.

_~Flashback~_

Shikamaru was running because it was too dangerous to try to attack. White Zetsu was behind him, chasing him so that he didn't have enough time to focus his chakra into making a shadow. Shikamaru was actually getting tired after running four miles in circles. More white and black Zetsus and Tobi were around them, so he couldn't run into the other enemies. White Zetsu was closing in on him, so he ran away very quickly and tried to focus his chakra into making a shadow. His legs were sore and he had absolutely no more energy to run. As he was making the shadow, White Zetsu was closing in on him again. 'Darn it' he thought. They were in a clearing, so there were not many things that could help him with the shadow. He tried very hard, he tried his best, but in the end, White Zetsu got him. Shikamaru was in a trap. He was so out of energy and chakra that he couldn't get out in time. The trap closed. He was completely inside the trap. 'Too bad for me' he thought. 'The time for me to die has come.'

His head hurt just to think about it. His vision was getting blurry. He could barely see Temari or anyone else. He felt numb. And then just in a second, conk. He was out. Temari sat there, tired and sad. She had failed. Temari cried hard. She cried until her eyes hurt. She then realized that she was really exhausted. In a second, she ran out of chakra and fainted.

When she woke up, she was in her bed. Was that all a dream? She seriously hoped it was. But then she looked up and realized that her friends were in her room, sitting there exhausted. They had brought her here? She said a quiet thanks to them and lay back in her bed. Sakura had healed her from chakra exhaustion and thanks to that, she was alive. She then went deep into thought. Shikamaru had died. What can she do about that now? She felt like crying. Hard. Almost as hard as she did a few minutes ago. She didn't want to cry in front of her friends though. It could make them sad because it might remind them of something horrible that happened. But she couldn't bear it. Tears met the corners of her eyes and fell down he face. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the tears that were now on her hand. They were there because of Shikamaru. The one who died. Zetsu. She hated him now. And she always will. At first she didn't care about Zetsu particularly, but now, she did. Zetsu was the one who she would kill at sight. The one she wanted to kill more than anyone in the whole world.

Her friends were now looking at her. She hadn't noticed that yet. She didn't until someone talked. "uh… it's okay t-to c-cry, b-but if you ever w-want to k-kill him randomly, w-we c-could help y-you." Hinata said stuttering. Temari turned to face her. "Thanks," she muttered, smiling and wiping away her tears. Temari had said thanks, but deep inside, she wanted to kill him alone. More than anything though, she wanted him, Shikamaru, back into her life. Not some dead person lying on the floor in some random forest.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Time Passes Awfully Quickly

It's a year later and Temari still can't forget that day when Shikamaru died. During his birthday she had cried even harder than she thought she could after all the tears she already shedded. Now it was the day he died during the next year. She didn't want to cry anymore. Crying made her feel like a little kid again. 'No more of that,' she thought. But then she looked up and wondered, 'what would other people do if they lost a fellow friend? I would cry for them because if a friend of mine lost a friend of theirs, well, all the friends of my friends are also mine. That is why I would cry for them, but what would they do about this? Do they care about my friends? Would they be sad if I were sad? I would, but you never know how your friend really feels deep inside, so…' She got lost on the last sentence. 'What would they think about that?' She knew that Shikamaru was also a friend of her friends, so she just considered that they, too, were also sad about his death.

~ It was two months later and Temari forgot about Shikamaru~

Temari looked outside the window and her eyes widened. Where she saw peacefulness a few seconds ago was now replaced with harsh wind and the sounds of battle. She got out of her bed and rushed towards the door. Luckily, she got to the area where battle took place early enough. She managed to block several kunais, shurikens, and senbons out of the way before they would hit more of her fellow friends. Some of her friends turned to her and smiled. She winked back at them. 'Oh boy, this was going to be a harsh day.' She then focused on the battle again and used her fan to protect herself, her friends, and strike at enemies. By this time, she was stronger. She learned a few more jutsu and she had no more tears possible to shed. She would always want to cry, but no, she had no more tears. She's got to be stronger after this and she thought to herself, 'I won't let another friend of mine die.'

However, what she didn't notice was that behind their enemies, there were more fellow shinobi from Suna and Konoha. There were more friends of hers that were yet to die because no body was there to protect them. There were very few shinobi on the other side. Among one of those shinobi, was Neji Hyuga. He didn't know how he could protect himself and others at this point. He was running out of chakra, too. ' I will protect those precious to me. My friends and family.' He thought. He then fell down from chakra exhaustion and got stabbed in the stomach with a katana. He almost yelled from the pain, but didn't because he didn't want to sound epic. And because of that, no one figured out that he was hurt. The pain made him numb. He couldn't move. And then just like Shikamaru, he died. Aside from the sad parts though, the fight was over. They had won. But just before the cheering started, there was an awful sound. That sound was the sound of crying. People turned around and kneeling beside the figure of a dead Neji, was Tenten. She was crying hard and she was also the first one to figure out that Neji had died.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: If Neji Must Die

Temari was horrified at the picture of Neji being dead. She didn't want anyone to die in that battle and yet, someone did. But the reason she was most surprised was because she didn't even see Neji in the battle. Temari got out of her thoughts and walked up to Tenten. "You don't have to cry. It will be a waste of tears. There is no point in crying. Why must you cry? Eventually, you will run out of tears to shed and forget him." Temari tried to act tough in front of others, but saying this only reminded her more of Shikamaru. And she thought she forgot about him; Neji was in the place of Shikamaru now. Tenten was the one sad, crying, waiting for something to change in her life to make her happy. That was the way Temari felt when Shikamaru died, but now, in battle, she thought that the two villages were strong; that these villages wouldn't lose another important person. The medical ninja were also horrified at this sight. Each one ran off to prepare for the funeral. Everyone went home, waiting for the call to meet at the graveyard where Neji was being buried.

When Temari changed into her black outfit for funerals, she sat on her bed and went into deep thought. 'Why did Neji have to die? He didn't have to keep quiet; he could have told somebody! I thought he was good and he wouldn't want to make the village quiet and sad again… because an important shinobi died… I would cry for Tenten, but I ran out of tears. Losing Shikamaru made me stronger, I know that it is important to fight my hardest. I practiced and now I am stronger, but… losing him is not good. Tenten could become stronger and not be a person who would be sad when someone dies, but that is not important! Neji died and that is horrible. Tenten would cry in her heart for her whole life, even when she has no more tears possible to shed. How could I help her? I have had the experience so…'

"Come to the graveyard for Neji's funeral. Now!" Tsunade said, into her speaker. The Sunagakure citizens heard that because Gaara said the same.

'My little brother… how come he can overcome his sadness so easily? I must ask him later…' Temari thought as she hurried off to Konohagakure's graveyard. When she got there, the Konoha citizens were already gathered around the stone. The words were newly carved, but the stones were just kept in a place in the Hokage's tower.

After the funeral, Temari went to ask Gaara the question she had been longing to ask.

"Naruto," was Gaara's answer. "He was the one who told me that I had to carry on. He, too, is a jinchuriki. I learned from him."

"Oh," she replied.

Temari ran out of the room and went back to my room. Then, she ran to the village she was waiting to go to for a while, Konohagakure. Temari made sure she was allowed to go in, by asking Izumo and Kotetsu. They nodded and Temari ran towards the Hokage's tower. Temari asked Tsunade where Tenten's room or apartment was. Tsunade answered her and she nodded with a thanks. She ran towards Tenten's room in the apartment.

'I want to help her. I want to make Tenten feel better. I want to be the one who makes the change and lightens up her mood. I've had experience; that is why I want to be the one.' Temari thought to herself. When Temari arrived at Tenten's room, she knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Tenten asked sighing.

"It's me, Temari," Temari stated.

"Why are you here?" Tenten asked.

"I want to be the one who helps you live on after losing someone you care about. I want to help you," Temari answered.  
"Fine," Tenten replied. "You can come in."

When Temari came in, Tenten was lying on her bed facing the wall. "Cheer up. I know what it is like to lose someone important to you, so I thought maybe I could understand how you feel. I want you to know that it doesn't help to sulk and be unhappy. It makes you lose cells, but anyways, cheering up is what makes you smile. Friends want to see your smile. When you frown, they frown. They are happy when you are happy. If you want to see your friends smile or you don't want to feel like a useless person, be happy and smile. That is the only way those two things can happen. Nothing good ever happens when you are sad," Temari told her after walking over to her.

Tenten turned around and gave a little smile. "It is funny to think that you would come over here to tell me that I will lose cells if I am angry, sad, or anything but happy," she replied.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: If Only Healing Would Bring Him Back

Temari sat down on her bed and smiled. "At least you get the concept," she said.

Tenten smiled back, "Maybe I won't forget him, but I can still be happy, right?"

"Yep, that's the concept," Temari replied.

"Okay, I guess I can do so," Tenten then answered as she started walking towards the door.

Temari ran up to her and said, "Good luck with that!" as she ran out the door to Sunagakure.

Tenten lifted her head up and thought, 'Next time, I will learn healing techniques. If Neji ever returns.' Tenten then ran to the Hokage's office.

"Tsunade-sama, I want to learn medical ninjutsu," she stated panting.

Tsunade eyes widened and she asked, "Why is that?" However, Tsunade knew that Tenten wanted to protect others as much as she could.

"I don't want to be a nuisance," she replied.

"All right, Tenten, you can train with Temari, however, I don't know if both of you have enough chakra control to learn medical ninjutsu," Tsunade answered. "And if you do, the classes are held every Wednesday, 2:00- 3:00, unless something delayed it. There isn't a class every day because Temari can't come every day. And I don't have that much time."

"Okay, I think I have time every Wednesday on 2:00…" Tenten replied, her voice fading away at the end. Her head went down and a dark aura surrounded her.

That was when Tsunade realized that Neji died on a Wednesday surrounding 2:00. "Sorry about that Tenten. If you would like, I can reschedule you to Friday, 4:30- 5:30," Tsunade stated.

"It's okay," Tenten said, waving her hands around.

"I have time then, Tenten," Tsunade said. "That's why I said you could come that time."

"Okay," Tenten answered.

Tenten walked back to her room, a sad aura surrounding her because of the memory of Neji dying. The memory kept on replaying in her head until she remembered that she would lose cells. She always thought of the part 'losing cells' because it made her smile a bit. Tenten lifted her head up and smiled. No, it wasn't fake trying to make her not lose cells, it was real. She didn't know why, but she felt like she should be happy at that moment… and then she fell asleep.

She was dreaming that she was there, right next to Neji fighting. And then he got stabbed. It was her fault, she didn't protect him. No! No….

Tenten sat up directly. She looked around. Then she remembered, it was all a nightmare. It wasn't actually her fault. He did it to protect his friends. He did it to be a true shinobi, he wanted the Hyuga clan to be proud. Tenten knew that it wasn't her fault, but she was still not quite over her sadness. Now, it might as well be even worse. She couldn't even say his name, not even in her thoughts. What if she forgot him? What if she forgets his name and then doesn't know the one she cared for anymore? What if she forgot the one who died wanting his clan, friends, and village be proud of him? What if… She shook her head. It was a completely new day and she shouldn't start it out horribly. It should start out happily. And so she smiled, being happy that she could make herself not miserable, day after day.

Tenten then remembered that yesterday was Wednesday, so at 4:30, she would start her healing lessons. Because she didn't know what to do, she went outside and decided to train. She only trusted him to train with her and help her improve, so she decided to train alone. At last, it was almost four thirty.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Healing

Tenten ran to the Hokage's office. Once she got there, Tsunade stood up and brought her to a room inside that she never been to. She looked around the room and took everything in. To her, it was amazing, having said that she's never been there. Tsunade took her to a table and said, "Here, at this table, is where you will be healings objects from now on. Try starting with this tiny fish."

Tenten nodded and started to work, but later got interrupted by Tsunade. "If you pass, then do the bigger fish. After that is the rabbit. If you pass that, come and tell me, but I don't think you can all in one day. Maybe later you can, but probably not today. Anyhow, here are the unconscious animals. I will be leaving to do my duty as the Hokage," she said.

Tenten watched as Tsunade left. 'She sure takes on her job,' Tenten thought.

~Elsewhere~

'I can't wait until Wednesday! I really need to learn that medical ninjutsu!' Temari thought as she paced around in her room.

"Hello? Temari, I need you to come into my office," a voice said. Temari looked at her door and there was Gaara.

"Okay," she said, trying to disturb her troubles.

Gaara led Temari into his office, also known as the Kazekage's office.

"So… Why have you brought me here?" Temari asked. She then noticed that Kankuro was also in the room. She looked at Gaara and tilted her head.

" Have you noticed how Shikamaru and Neji died?" he asked.

"Um… yeah?" Temari answered, kind of sad at the thought of Shikamaru. She actually didn't care that much anymore.

"I guess… Not really…" Kankuro replied.

"Well, I've talked to the Hokage, Tsunade, and she and I both thought that the ways they died were pretty suspicious. I mean, I can't find out how either one of them died. Do any of you know how they died?" Gaara asked.

"No…" Kankuro replied.

"No, but I know who killed them," Temari said.

"Anything would help," Gaara stated.

"Shikamaru was killed by Zetsu and Neji wasn't killed by anybody," Temari told him. "Tenten might know exactly how…"

"Thanks for the information. However, I wanted to tell you that if people keep on dying like this, dying suspiciously, then things won't ever work out well. One died in a battle and another died in the battle right after that. Continuously and suspiciously, that doesn't help," Gaara answered.

"Oh…," Temari answered. 'I am dying inside here! There are too many problems! Maybe sometimes Shikamaru was right… some things are troublesome… like, you just want to have no troubles at that point.'

"Temari?" Gaara asked.

"Oh, sorry," Temari replied. "What?"

"Did you hear what I just said?" Gaara asked.

"No…" Temari answered.

"Oh, I said that I will be meeting the Hokage on Tuesday, so if there are any problems when I am gone, just tell me or if you can, solve them," Gaara stated.

"S-Sure," Temari said, scared that her problems would cause this huge problem to become worse.

"That is it," Gaara said. "You are dismissed."

~Meanwhile~

Tenten was having troubles with the big fish. It was twitching, but not completely healed.

~Two Weeks Later~

Tenten was happy to have healed the rabbit. She smiled and wiped off the sweat on her forehead. She then walked out of the room to tell Tsunade that she was done.

"Tsunade-sama, I have finished healing the rabbit," Tenten told her.

"Well done, not everybody can do that," Tsunade answered. "Please don't get sad when you talk about this, but you want him back to life don't you?"

"Y-yeah…" Tenten replied.

"There is a jutsu for that, but it requires very skilled people. In order to not lose your life during this jutsu is even harder," Tsunade stated.

"What can I do to accomplish that jutsu?" Tenten asked.

"I don't know. You must work hard and find out if you have that skill yourself. However, you can come more often if you don't bug me every day," Tsunade said. "Not that you do."

Tenten let out a sigh at the last part. 'Good grief,' she thought. "Okay, what days can I come in at?"

"Tenten, it would be okay if you came in every Tuesday, 12:00-1:30 if you would like," Tsunade stated.

"Sure," Tenten replied. 'I guess I must also train at home. I could tell Temari, she might also want to bring someone back to life… example, maybe Shikamaru.'

Tenten then left the office and back towards her room.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Teamwork

Temari went to Tenten's room. "You called?" she asked.

"Yeah," Tenten replied. "I wanted to tell you this. Tsunade said there is a reincarnation jutsu that is not like the one Orochimaru uses. The people who are reincarnated are free. They don't have to listen to you. It is not forbidden either. However in order to do it, you have to be very skilled, so when you can do it and not kill yourself either, … you have to be really skilled. Tsunade let me have two classes, but she said that she doesn't know how to complete the jutsu. I must find out on my own, weather or not I have the abilities. I wanted to ask you if we could work together to find out how to do this jutsu. Maybe a little information from Sakura and Tsunade. I don't want them to actually do the work though… I want to bring him back to life by myself! I only want you to help because you want Shikamaru back too right?"

"I g-guess… yeah, pretty much…" Temari said, blushing.

"So you understand?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah," Temari replied. "So… when should we start this research. You know I can't come here every day."

"Hm… That's a tough one… do you have time on every Sunday, 10:30-12:00 AM? Because that is the time I have the most free time now," Tenten answered.

"I think…" Temari said as she fumbled in her mind for the times she were free. "Yeah. I'm surprised that we both have free time during the same time and day."

"You wish. Now it won't be 'free' time anymore!" Tenten said, goofing off.

Temari couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, now that we have something scheduled there," she laughed.

They both shared a laugh for a while, until they both decided to focus on their problems.

"Remember when I didn't like you, and I hated you?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah…" Temari answered.

"Those times were strange… Maybe we can get on more friendly terms since we will be needing to help each other. I don't want to get mad at you because I know that someday, you will be helpful. Maybe on the day we reincarnate then. If we ever learn the jutsu," Tenten replied.

"Ha, yeah, we probably will, I mean, it's not like we are mad at each other right now," Temari stated.

"True that," Tenten said, and they once again, laughed.

"Back to the jutsu learning, you do have time at Sunagakure to research yourself right? And then on Sunday, we can gather our information and get more," Tenten said.

"Yeah, I do. How about you?" Temari asked.

"Of course! Otherwise I would have told you instead of asking if you had time!" Tenten replied.

"This is getting silly," Temari said. "I think it would be fun to stay over and talk about things like this, but you could be busy. Bye!"

"Wait!" Tenten told her. "I remembered that just today I have free time. You could stay over, so we can gather information just today and then every Sunday."

"… Sure!" Temari replied, after remembering that Gaara said she had to come back at least on Sunday. I just need to tell him that I will be over for today, Saturday, and tomorrow, Sunday. Then I will be back at Sunagakure at the end of tomorrow. Bye! I'll come back after I get my stuff!"

Tenten smiled. Then frowned. How long would it take her to learn the jutsu? How long would it take her to reincarnate him? Could she actually do it and still survive? What if she can't even learn the jutsu?! All of these problems came rushing into her mind when she heard a knock on the door. It was Temari.

Tenten went to open the door. Temari said thanks and sat down.

Tenten then noticed that Temari was looking at her.

"Why do you look sad?" Temari asked.

"Well, all these questions suddenly fill my mind and none of them are positive!" Tenten replied.

"Tenten… don't care about those. Forget them and think positive. One day, you will regret that you ever thought those things would be true," Temari said, trying to make her feel better.

"Thanks… Temari," Tenten said. She smiled and said, "When should we start our research?"

"Maybe now?" Temari said in a questioning voice.

"Sure!" Tenten replied.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Prophecy

As they were searching for information desperately, they came across one piece of information.

It read:_ Puppet Makers- A way to reincarnate others, but let them be free._

_As for being a Puppet Maker, There are secrets to the most obvious things. But they are secrets, so no one found out. However, you must die in order to do so. _

Tenten and Temari's eyes both widened at the last sentence they read.

Tenten met Temari's eyes and said, "Maybe we could just complete this research that puppet users were trying to complete so long ago."

"I guess…" Temari said.

And the passage continued:_ "To die is your choice, and your choice is between yes or no. Do you want to save them? Or not? It is your choice, weather or not, but it is our choice, if you die… Because this is OUR information… so you will die if we want you to. However, we may let you live, but you will probably die the next day, because of the curse. We puppet makers called the unfinished a curse… the curse that kills those who use the jutsu. No one has ever done the jutsu without dying before, so if you want to use it, that is your choice…_

_Without this being completed, the users must die… and I am near death… I will never complete this before death… and this is MY information, so only I will write in it. So too bad if you don't understand, before you finish. And so the information shall begin._

_'The way this works is just a prophecy, _

_so all that die will hate this mostly,_

_But as you understand,_

_ you really might stand!_

_Your life is short,_

_Ever since you read this,_

_But nobody cares,_

_And that is it!_

_The way life goes is just a riddle,_

_As none of you will ever get it,_

_But I shall say the way you live,_

_Is the only way, out of this curse!_

_The riddle itself, is just evil,_

_While you are probably just too nice,_

_To ever survive, this way of life!_

_As you die, you shall remember,_

_All your sad times… maybe never._

_ So on the prophecy goes,_

_As you live on,_

_Don't blame me, but those who are weak,_

_Might die tomorrow,_

_As they are so unsure._

_Why must you live this way of life,_

_Where the pattern is just a riddle?_

_When life is death,_

_And death is nothing?_

_You must live on the way it is,_

_But in the future,_

_It might change._

_Life may be life,_

_And death may be death._

_The way life was formed to be._

_And maybe the life was-_

"What now? The Prophecy ended in such a strange place!" Temari said in a worried voice.

"…I don't know…" Tenten replied.

"Hey wait! There is something scribbled on the bottom left hand corner in a very tiny font," Temari stated.

_This is another puppet user. The rest of the prophecy goes on in the scroll with a light blue ribbon and is purple with blue and red on the sides. I finished the prophecy for this puppeteer._

"Scroll that is purple with a light blue ribbon? I think I saw that!" Tenten said.

Temari and Tenten scrambled across the floor to look for the specific scroll.

"Temari?" Tenten asked.

"Hm?" Temari replied.

"I think I saw that scroll from the ones you brought in today…" Tenten answered.

"Oh really?" Temari asked. "Let's see… I brought this one…. And this one… oh! I found it! This one right?" Temari showed Tenten the scroll.

Tenten nodded and started to read it out loud,

_"This will start from the sentence my friend left off on._

_' And maybe the life was meant for one,_

_but spread and all got covered._

_When the world was diseased,_

_When the world was hurt,_

_When we couldn't see the future,_

_We still had hope._

_And maybe, just maybe, the one who will read this,_

_May be from the time where the world is free._

_When the world is not hurt,_

_When the world is not sick,_

_When the world can see what awaits them._

_And if that is so, _

_Maybe you'll understand._

_Understand why this jutsu might not work out._

_Maybe you'll understand,_

_Why the prophecy is the key to the jutsu._

_The jutsu is just a jutsu,_

_But the way you can learn it,_

_Is through this prophecy,_

_Not your everyday training.'_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Prophecy: Not Understood

"Do you think that this is real or do you think that these friends just made it up?" Temari asked Tenten. "Like, do you think they read information and said it in their own words prophecy way?"

"Well… it is possible…" Tenten answered.

"Yeah…" Temari answered.

"Or they could be trying to throw others nearby off track," Tenten scoffed. "No, just kidding. I highly doubt that."

"Anyways, we live in freedom, we're not that hurt or sick, and we can somewhat see what is coming, so… does that mean we are living in the time where all problems are solved? Does that mean… that we are the lucky ones that really don't need anything more?" Temari asked.

"Yeah… I guess… I wonder how the people back in those days had hope. I lost a lot of hope when he died and I am apparently in the lucky times," Tenten answered. "Well, comparing to those times… nowadays people are really lucky, but… well we could think we were, but other villages are getting more powerful… and so are the Akatsuki. Come on, they killed Shikamaru and… him."

" So I guess you still can't say his name?" Temari teased. "How sad…"

They both laughed for a little while, but then Tenten stopped and said, "It's not that funny."

"Aw… you even say that in a dark voice!" Temari laughed, swinging her feet around.

Temari reached out to rub Tenten's head, but Tenten reached for her hand and put it down. "You really need to stop thinking about that kind of stuff. If I am depressed I am depressed. Don't make it worse by rubbing my head," Tenten demanded.

"Aw…" Temari pouted.

"Well, is someone in a bad mood?" a voice asked.

They both turned to the door and said "Sakura!" at the same time. They were both surprised that Sakura would be around that area.

"Well, you can come in," Tenten told her.

"Oh, Thanks!" Sakura replied.

Sakura sat down near them, so that they formed a circle.

"Do you need any help on the jutsu?" Sakura suddenly asked after some awkward silence.

"Yeah…" Temari admitted.

"Well, I could help you while you guys are researching, but you will still probably be on your own because I know some medical things, but… but I of course don't know everything. I might not even know a lot, depending on what you are discussing right now," Sakura said kindly.

"Thanks, but no offense, you kind of came here at the wrong time… we weren't really talking about medical things right now…" Tenten said. She handed Sakura both scrolls and told her to read them. "There is a prophecy inside them and that is what we were discussing. But I figured that if you read it, you could still be much help, for three minds is better that two!"

Sakura smiled at that and answered a thanks. She then looked at Temari, who was looking outside.

"Um… do you have any suggestions?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, sorry! No…" Temari said hurriedly. She got up and ran outside to a nearby bench.

"?" Sakura asked.

"…" Tenten went.

"I wonder what she is doing…" Sakura said.

"Hey! I think she brought a note pad and… a drawing pad?" Tenten said in a questioning voice.

"Maybe she needs peace and time on her own…" Sakura stated.

"Okay…" Tenten said.

They went back to gathering ideas on how to find out what the prophecy meant.

~Somewhere Else in a Nearby Bench~

'Whew… I'm glad that they understood what I meant… wanting peace and quiet. Sometimes these things help me think. I might be able to figure out what the prophecy meant… IF I can concentrate. But in order to forget what is in front of me and only see what is in my mind… in order for that to happen, I need pure silence. No sound… well, maybe the sounds of nature would be okay…' Temari thought. "That was embarrassing to just forget what they were talking about right in front of them…"

Temari started to draw the scenery in front of her, the busy villagers running around, the hardworking shinobi going in and out, and most of all, the nature far off into the distance. The trees were hard to see, so she would stand up and just add more in her drawing than what she could see. Then, all the sounds faded, she could barely see what she was seeing, and she saw tons of lines from the prophecy. Temari sat down, put her pad down, and started thinking. All the lines crossed her mind, each one stopped until she could somewhat figure out what it meant. After all of the lines had gone through her mind, she opened her eyes, picked up her writing pad, and started writing everything that she figured out just then, before she could forget them.

"Whew," Temari said. She wiped her forehead, put down the pad, and leaned back into the bench. She sighed in relief and smiled. She was going to get up, but she was too tired, after having to go through all of that thinking. She closed her eyes and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Meaning of the Prophecy

~ In Tenten's Room~

"So?" Sakura asked. "Is that all the lines?"

"Yeah…" Tenten said.

"Okay," Sakura replied with a sigh of relief. "You read the sentence and then I will read the meaning. Then check to make sure it makes sense. Remember after this, we must finish this process that the puppet users were trying to do. You don't want to die, you have to do a lot of work."

Tenten smiled before answering, "Okay. Here is the first one.

'the way this works is just a prophecy, so all that die will hate this mostly, but as you understand, you might really stand!"

"Well, the first one basically explains itself, but whatever. The jutsu is learned through a prophecy, so that when people die from it, they will hate the prophecy. If the person reading the prophecy understands what it means, that person might actually survive the curse of the jutsu. Is that pretty much it?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. This is the second line.

'Your life is short, ever since you read this, but nobody cares, and that is it!'" Tenten told Sakura.

"So um… that is… Once you started reading the prophecy, your lifespan became short, but nobody cares that your life became short, and there is nothing else to that part.

Right?" Sakura asked.

"That's as close as we can get it to be. Okay, third line.

'The way life goes is just a riddle, as none of you will ever get it, but I shall say the way you live, is the only way, out of the curse!'" Tenten recited.

"Erm… when doing the jutsu, life is a riddle. There are mysterious things that you don't know. The person supposes that nobody will ever figure out the riddle. The only way to get out of the curse from the jutsu, depends on how you lived," Sakura said. "But we don't know which way of life is the correct one that will get us out of the curse!"

"That is yet a mystery to solve, but let's first finish this. Line four.

'The riddle itself, is just evil, while you are probably just to nice, too ever survive this way of life!'" Tenten stated.

"The jutsu's riddle of life is nothing, but evil. Most people are probably too nice to survive the curse of the riddle, so they will die," Sakura said frowning. "That's sad…"

"Yeah… Fifth line.

'As you die you shall remember, all your sad times… maybe never.'" Tenten said, releasing a … at the end that resembled the words fading.

"If you don't survive you might die. While you are dying, you should remember all your sad times, but if you are just too positive and you are just too happy that you saved someone, you might not. But most people will." Sakura said, reading off of her notebook.

"Sad times? That's… just a memory of your whole life, but in the dark! Like, no light at all… anyhow, sixth line!

'So on the prophecy goes, as you live on, don't blame me, but those who are weak, might die tomorrow, as they are so unsure.'" Tenten stated.

" This one also basically explains itself, but yeah. The prophecy continues to go on, as you continue to live. Do not blame the prophecy, but some people could die tomorrow, when they have no clue at all. Those are the weak ones," Sakura read.

"dying…" Tenten murmured. A quick flashback came to her. When he died…

"Tenten?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, sorry! Yeah, let's continue…" Tenten said.

Sakura sat there for a moment and then said, "Oh! I am really, really sorry, but I must go! Here, you can check from the notebook yourself," Sakura said hurriedly as she ran outside to go somewhere.

'I'll do the rest tomorrow…' Tenten thought.

Then Temari through the door and said, "Sorry about running outside. Thank you for not running after me and disturbing me."

"Oh," Tenten said.

Tenten went to her bed and Temari went into her sleeping bag after they had both brushed their teeth and so on. They also shared a few things.

Temari told Tenten that she had also wrote down what she thought the prophecy meant. Tenten nodded her head and turned around. She was tired and decided to just fall asleep and do her other duties the next day.

On the other hand, Temari couldn't sleep. She woke up on the bench and just picked up her belongings and rushed into Tenten's room, so she had just slept. She started thinking about the prophecy, but later on, she too, fell asleep. It sure had been a tiring day.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Reading the Prophecy: Understood, Completed

It was Sunday morning and Temari had gotten up, for she couldn't really sleep. Tenten was still in her bed, so Temari decided to cook. She looked inside the cabinets on top of the kitchen and found some ingredients. And so she began to cook… soba noodles. She then remembered that soba noodles were Neji's favorite food. Wow… Tenten really could remember those she cared for. She started to giggle yet again, at the thought of Tenten not wanting to say Neji's name.

She then turned around to see Tenten getting up.

"What are you laughing at?" Tenten asked curiously.

"Eh… nothing," Temari replied.

"I know you are hiding something," Tenten said as she stood up and walked towards Temari. She then stood there and looked at Temari.

Temari started waving her hands around randomly and said, "What are you looking at?" She knew that Tenten would do something like the face palm, but she didn't want Tenten to throw another temper tantrum.

"Well, we need to get to work," Temari stated, trying to change the subject.

"Fine, but next time you start giggling randomly, I will make sure to find out," Tenten answered.

"O-okay… jeez…" Temari replied backing away. "Don't need to throw another temper tantrum…"

"Yeah, yeah whatever…" Tenten replied. She started to eat her soba noodles but then she stopped and a tear rolled down her face.

"Still not over him?" Temari asked. But then suddenly, deep inside her heart, a hole opened. She herself was not really over Shikamaru either. Even though he died, when people make fun of him because he was smart, but still died, she would start having a dark aura… somehow. She was surprised that she hadn't gotten over him because at first, she thought that there was no way they could be together again. She thought that either he was dead or she was dead. (Reincarnation jutsu) Or, they were both alive, but Shikamaru was being controlled. She didn't want to do either one of the jutsus, so she never knew that she would still care for him. She thought that there was no hope at one point too.

"Temari…" Tenten said. "Why do you keep going somewhere else these days? Come on… you're always dreaming somewhere out there…*sigh*."

"Well, according to you, it is time to start working, so I will. But I don't know about you…" Tenten then said, walking out of the kitchen.

"Let's see… where did I end off…" Tenten mumbled. "Oh, yeah… seventh line…" "What is it? 'Why must you live this way of life, where the pattern is just a riddle?' hm… The Prophecy says that nobody deserves to have to live the kind of life where the way the life is, is all just a trick/ curse?" Tenten read. "Close enough…" she muttered.

"Next line…" Tenten said, getting cut off by Temari.

"Can I help? Yesterday I also got all the meanings… well, what I think is the meanings…" Temari said.

"By yourself?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah… Anyhow, I think we could check our meanings," Temari suggested.

"Sure… but Sakura and I already did the first six lines… so… just tell me if it has the same meaning," Tenten replied. " Is the first one like 'The Jutsu is learned through a prophecy, so those that when people die from it, they will hate the prophecy. If the person reading the prophecy understands what it means, they might actually survive the curse of the jutsu!" Tenten read.

"Yep, that's like it," Temari answered.

"Next one, this is for the second line. ' Once you started reading the prophecy, your lifespan became short, but nobody cares that your life became short, and there is nothing else to that part.'" Tenten read, once again.

"Um… yeah, pretty much," Temari replied.

"You know, this prophecy thing is getting irritating," Tenten stated.

"Yeah… very troublesome," Temari said.

"Haha, Shikamaru = troublesome," Tenten laughed.

Temari then looked down and a dark aura surrounded her.

"He…he died…" Temari muttered.

Tenten covered her mouth and then noticed why Temari always laughed at her not wanting to say his name. It was fun, but you wouldn't want others to do it to you… Tenten felt ashamed of herself.

"S-sorry…" Tenten said, not wanting to speak any more.

Temari then looked up and said sorry, too.

"Why do you say sorry? I should be the one…" Tenten said, tilting her head in a questioning way.

"I made you unhappy. Isn't that a bad friend?" Temari asked, faking a smile.

"Okay then, if you say so…" Tenten said, unsure about what was going on. "Let's continue…"

"Line three," Temari reminded her, as she fumbled through her words in her notebook.

" Oh, did you get some thing like, 'When doing the jutsu, life is a riddle. There are mysterious things that you don't know. The person supposes that nobody will ever figure out the riddle. The only way to get out of the curse from the jutsu, depends on how you lived.'" Tenten asked

"Yeah…" Temari replied.

"Okay, line four… 'The jutsu's riddle of life is nothing, but evil. Most people are probably too nice to survive the curse of the riddle, so they will die.'" Tenten read.

"Mmm Hmm," Temari said.

"Next line… 'If you don't survive you might die. While you are dying, you should remember all your sad times, but if you are just too positive and you are just too happy that you saved someone, you might not. But most people will.'" Tenten stated.

"Yup," Temari replied, obviously getting bored.

"Line six, 'The prophecy continues to go on, as you continue to live. Do not blame the prophecy, but some people could die tomorrow, when they have no clue at all. Those are the weak ones.'" Tenten said.

"Okay, now we do line seven to the end," Temari said. She then read the line seven meaning that Tenten wrote and nodded. "Okay, line eight," She said.

" The prophecy line eight is… 'When life is death, and death is nothing?'" Tenten read.

"When no one can live because when they live, they are dead, and when they think they die, they actually perish," Temari replied.

"Okay, line nine. 'You must live on the way it is, but in the future, it might change.'" Tenten stated.

"When you are in the curse of the jutsu, you must live on with the conditions, but afterwards, if you don't die, the customs could change," Tenten answered.

Tenten nodded and said, " Line ten, 'Life may be life, and death may be death.'" She then let out a sigh at the end.

"The curse will disappear and while you are living life, you are. You think you are dying and you are, not perishing," Temari read.

"Next, line eleven. 'The way life was formed to be. And maybe the life was meant for one, but spread and all got covered.'" Tenten stated.

"The curse could have been made to torture one person, but then it spread and all the jutsu users (for that jutsu) got the curse," Temari said, exasperated.

"Next…" Tenten said, annoyed. "Line twelve… 'When the world was diseased, when the world was hurt, when we couldn't see the future, we still had hope.'" Tenten read.

" When the world had no offenses, no defenses, and everyone was hurt, the people still worked hard, and thought they could make it through," Temari said.

"Line thirteen, 'And maybe, just maybe, the one who will read this, may be from the time where the world is free.'" Tenten read, once again.

" The person who reads the prophecy may be from the time where the world had freedom and was happy. That is actually true…" Temari answered.

" Line fourteen. 'When the world is not hurt, when the world is not sick, when the world can see what awaits them.'" Tenten said.

"Well… don't we already no what this means? Just the opposite of line twelve," Temari stated.

"Okay… line fifteen, 'And if that is so, maybe you'll understand.'" Tenten read.

" If we come from that time, we might understand the way of the jutsu," Temari said.

" Line sixteen, 'Understand why this jutsu might not work out.'" Tenten stated.

"We might understand why the jutsu won't work out well," Temari said.

"Line seventeen, 'Maybe you'll understand, why this prophecy is the key to the jutsu.'" Tenten read.

" We might understand what the prophecy has to do with the jutsu," Temari said.

"Line eighteen, 'The jutsu is just a jutsu, but the way you can learn it, is through this prophecy, not your everyday training.'" Tenten read.

" The jutsu is a jutsu, but it is not normal. You don't learn it through training, you learn it through the prophecy," Temari replied.

"Yeah pretty much. Read the meanings again, but this time, altogether," Tenten said.

"Okay, here goes, nothing.

'The Jutsu is learned through a prophecy, so those that when people die from it, they will hate the prophecy. If the person reading the prophecy understands what it means, they might actually survive the curse of the jutsu. Once you started reading the prophecy, your lifespan became short, but nobody cares that your life became short, and there is nothing else to that part. When doing the jutsu, life is a riddle. There are mysterious things that you don't know. The person supposes that nobody will ever figure out the riddle. The only way to get out of the curse from the jutsu, depends on how you lived. The jutsu's riddle of life is nothing, but evil. Most people are probably too nice to survive the curse of the riddle, so they will die. If you don't survive you might die. While you are dying, you should remember all your sad times, but if you are just too positive and you are just too happy that you saved someone, you might not. But most people will. The prophecy continues to go on, as you continue to live. Do not blame the prophecy, but some people could die tomorrow, when they have no clue at all. Those are the weak ones. The Prophecy says that nobody deserves to have to live the kind of life where the way the life is, is all just a trick/ curse. When no one can live because when they live, they are dead, and when they think they die, they actually perish. When you are in the curse of the jutsu, you must live on with the conditions, but afterwards, if you don't die, the customs could change. The curse will disappear and while you are living life, you are. You think you are dying and you are, not perishing. The curse could have been made to torture one person, but then it spread and all the jutsu users (for that jutsu) got the curse. When the world had no offenses, no defenses, and everyone was hurt, the people still worked hard, and thought they could make it through. The person who reads the prophecy may be from the time where the world had freedom and was happy. When the world has offenses, when the world has defences, when nobody is hurt, and when the world knows what might happen. If we come from that time, we might understand the way of the jutsu. We might understand why the jutsu won't work out well. We might understand what the prophecy has to do with the jutsu. The jutsu is a jutsu, but it is not normal. You don't learn it through training, you learn it through the prophecy," Temari stated.

"Okay," Tenten replied. "Now, we must figure out how to still survive after reincarnating them."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: If Only Surviving was Easier

"H-how is it possible that we can figure out how to survive during the jutsu?" Tenten asked, panting.

"I-I don't know…" Temari replied.

Both of them had gone through a series of experiments and are dying to take a break.

Later on when they get inside:

Tenten and Temari are eating dangos and drinking cold tea.

"So… how did your experiment go?" Temari asked, after they both sat down and starting munching on the delicious dangos.

"Not very well…" Tenten replied. "Well, first off… the experiment turned out to not have anything related to surviving when you talk about THAT jutsu. Second… I got all fired up for the experiment and I think I did it wrong anyways…"

"Oh," was Temari's only reply. "To tell the truth… mine didn't go well either. The experiment was much harder than I expected it to be. I tried to heal a huge thing, using almost all my chakra, but then… I used to much chakra and fainted from chakra exhaustion."

"Really!?" Tenten asked, in a surprised voice. "How come I didn't notice then?"

"You were probably too focused on your experiment," Temari replied.

"Oh… well anyways, I was planning on healing something that never had a life. I thought that if I could do something interesting to it and not fall from chakra exhaustion than I had a chance," Tenten said.

"At least you gave it a thought," Temari complimented. "I mean like, you knew that if you fell from chakra exhaustion, you would not survive with the jutsu. I like it, that was a smart idea."

"Sure…" Tenten said in a voice that just said it right away: She didn't think it was a smart idea.

Temari continued to devour the dangos, but Tenten was not so sure what she did wrong. Tenten savored her dango to the last bite. And then she began to nibble on the next.

Temari noticed the depressed way of nibbling at the dango and stated plainly towards Tenten, "Aw, come on… don't be so depressed. I messed up too… Smile!"

Tenten smiled although it seemed… fake. And that was because, it really wasn't genuine. Tenten then remembered Temari's hilarious quote: "Come on… you will lose cells if you are unhappy…" Tenten smiled, slightly sticking her tongue out. Then, she slipped it back in, knowing that Temari could see it if it was out.

"Let's go back to training!" Temari shouted, not nearly as loud as a shout, but you get the point, still loud.

"O-kay…"Tenten replied, thinking that those words reminded her of Rock Lee.

They, once again, they trained as hard as they could, using their knowledge to make up the experiments.

Temari panted, and turned to look to see if Tenten improved her progress from last time she looked. Yes, they were, doing the same experiment, and that is, because they never completed the task that was meant to be done in the experiment. Tenten did improve her progress, making the tree stump she was using look like rapid waves. Tenten stopped, and turned around to look at Temari.

She was sweating, and somewhat… limping. On the other hand, Temari was doing worse. At first she was just panting, but now, she was limping on both legs. And once again, she collapsed, probably due to chakra exhaustion like before. Tenten ran to her, asking if she was okay. Tenten was using her other hand to hold onto one arm. She used that arm more for the experiment. When she was pouring chakra into the tree trunk, her arm just randomly jerked to one side. Tenten put it back, yelping in pain.

'I'm sorry Temari… I can't stay,' Tenten thought. She ran to the Konoha Hospital to see what went wrong with her arm.

"You have a broken arm," the nurse said. Tenten nodded and patiently waited while they helped heal her arm. She healed some of it, but it was not completely healed. She got a cast and thanked the nurse for the help. Tenten waved and left the doorsteps. She ran back to the valley near her house to find Temari.

Tenten was surprised when she saw that Temari was no longer there. She ran back to her room and found Temari.

"Oh, you're awake," Tenten said.

"Yeah… and… wait!" Temari said. "Are you sure you are okay? Look at your arm…"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You're too paranoid," Tenten answered.

Temari sighed with relief and said, "Good, we still need to work on our experiments."

"Yeah, but… if we do it today… later," Tenten replied.

Temari laughed and answered, "Of course. I'd die if I gave another shot. Well, of course not literally."

Tenten smiled and said, "Never overdo a experiment."

Temari took a glance at the clock and frowned.

"What is it?" Tenten asked.

Temari gestured at the clock and Tenten turned around to get a good look.

"Oh…" Tenten managed to get out. She didn't notice, but it was already 6:30. Tenten had agreed to get dinner for both of them, so after a delicious dinner, Temari would have to pack up and leave.

Temari smiled, "Don't worry. I should be expected back at home, but I can always come back later."

Tenten smiled and got up. She strolled to the kitchen where she opened a cupboard and tried to reach to the top. Tenten scraped her wrist on the little wood wall that separated the top from the bottom. "Ow…"

Temari laughed and stood from her table. "I'll get it." Temari was older, and taller. Therefore, she easily got the food and smiled at Tenten.

Tenten smiled back and thanked her. Temari stopped to see what she had gotten from the cupboard. It was a couple of udon packages. Well, that couldn't be all bad.

Tenten quickly cooked their meal and put the udon noodles into two bowls with warm soup. She later on set the two bowls down on the table. Temari smiled and thanked Tenten and then quickly said 'itadakimasu' and started eating the noodles. Tenten smiled, knowing that this was a sign that she had cooked the noodles correctly. She too, said 'itadakimasu' and started munching on the udon noodles.

After they finished, Tenten and Temari put the bowls into the sink. Tenten washed the bowls while Temari packed up. Temari stepped into the doorway and turned around. "Good luck for your research!"

Tenten smiled and replied, "You too. Bye!"

Temari nodded and waved her hand, following with a thud as the door was slammed shut. And then Tenten sighed, knowing it was the end of the day and she should be getting plenty of sleep for the next day. You never know, tomorrow could be very busy.

"AH!" Temari screamed, as she fell to the floor. Crack, crack. "N-no… This can't be happening!" 'M-my arms… they-they're broken! Now how can I ever continue my experiment?' "Tenten will have to work on her own…" 'Darn it! I can't even get home! I will just have to wait here…"*

* News spread to Konoha.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Sorry about the delay. I didn't have many ideas for the chapter, so it took a long time. I am also sorry that after the long wait, there is still a short chapter for you. I hope that my next chapter won't take too long!**

Chapter 12: On My Own

'T-temari was hurt?!' Tenten exclaimed, in her head. 'This can't be happening! She couldn't have… she was perfectly fine… and… then that means that I have to do all the experiments on my own… Temari, I'm sure this is not your doing. Don't worry…'

Tenten got up from her seat, panicking. As she was pondering over which experiment to do first, she realized that she was still exhausted by the day before's training. She sighed and just decided to go to the Suna Hospital to visit Temari. And so she set off.

"Tenten!" the nurse called. She had signed in to visit Temari. Tenten took a deep breath and walked into Temari's room, preparing to see her hurt friend.

Temari was asleep, so she kept quiet. For her, it was just this same awkward silence for a few minutes. Then, Temari's eyelids opened, her eyes seemingly looking at the ceiling. Tenten then felt a tingling thing in her brain that made her feel like those eyes were different then usual.

Tenten wasn't sure what this tingling thing was and didn't want to rely on it for answer. However, she didn't know what was going on, so she nonetheless looked closer at Temari's eyes. She just stared into her friend's eyes until… something caught her eye.

'Yeah, those eyes are different,' Tenten thought to herself, trying to communicate with the tingling thing. Tenten knew that there was something, but she didn't know what. 'What really did make those eyes different than usual?'

Temari turned around to face Tenten. Tenten smiled at her, only receiving a smile back. At this moment, Tenten got a closer look at Temari's eyes. Eyes widening, she finally realized the difference. Behind her usual happy eyes, it was sadness. She wasn't really happy- it was fake. And those sad eyes, Temari was only smiling at Tenten with a sad smile, trying to tell her something was not as happy as it was. The longer she looked, the more Temari seemed sad, unhappy.

"U-uh… You know Temari… I need to tell you something. Quotes. What are they for? Are they for a certain someone? Or yourself? This is what I need to tell you. Neither. Quotes are for everyone, smart or dumb, in the quote or in the person. 'Being anything but happy will only make you lose cells.' What is that? It is simply your own quote. Well, if you already knew this, why don't you listen to it? Sadness only makes things worse," Tenten stated.

Tenten realized that she was looking at the wall. She quickly turned back to Temari and smiled once again. "And there is one last thing. Forcing happiness away pushes others' happiness away," Tenten smiled. "How about this? You do know that my smiles are fake right now, too, right? You want to know why? I am happy when my friends are happy. So… if you are happy, I will be happy too."

Temari smiled back, but still not the real one. "Why with all this big talk?" she asked. "It… is just in the way."

Tenten was shocked by the last phrase. She frowned to herself and tried to figure out what was wrong. However, something was bothering her. She was dying to tell Temari more and more, getting her to be happy.

Tenten shook her head, forcing herself to be silent. And then… all of a sudden, she figured it out. Temari ran out of hope after breaking her arms. 'This is bad, this is bad,' she thought.

She tried to think more, but someone interrupted her thoughts.

"I'm sorry Tenten, but your time ran out. You should be exiting," the nurse told her.

Tenten frowned, but left the room anyways. 'I'll just have to work by myself for a while,' Tenten stated, to her mind. And so with that last thought, she took her step out of the hospital door.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: My Thoughts

'Thoughts,' Tenten wondered, 'What are they for?!' She sat by the lake and tossed rocks into the water, creating ripples. 'Thoughts are stupid! Trying to cheer someone up by your own thoughts… so insensible! Temari doesn't care!' Tenten was in a fury over this. She knew that she _was_ calm, but… Temari couldn't have said it! 'Her own words… reflected back at her… and, she says it just gets in the way! Argh… How is this going to work now?! Does she even care about Shikamaru?! Her hard work… it all resulted into this didn't it? Ungh…' Tenten then calmed down. 'Now… what am I doing? Pondering over this with no solution…'

Before she figured what she was doing, she was shoveling dirt, well, more like digging, because she doesn't have a shovel… After digging for a while, she toppled over, tired. She just lay on the grass, staring into the sky. She was so exhausted that she fell asleep after a few minutes.

But she didn't notice how close she was to the pond. She rolled a tiny bit and, fell into the lake. The water was clear, as a few bubbles arose, and Tenten sank. Feeling cold, she immediately awoke. Aware of her surroundings, she quickly swam upwards. On her way she found a blue crystal ball. She swam towards it and yanked it out of the crevice. With that, she surfaced, knowing that she couldn't hold her breath anymore. Tenten splashed out of the water, the warm sunlight shining on her face. 'How great it feels to have the sun shine at you…'

Tenten climbed out of the lake, quickly running home. She got a towel and wrapped herself up with it. She put aside the sky blue sphere and ran to take a quick shower.

Afterwards, she went to the living room and picked up the ball she left on the table. Tenten scrabbled up the stairs with it, reaching for her doorknob later. In her room, she examined it, inspecting every little angle. She was surprised at how perfect it was, no scratches at all, even after being in that hole… She hid it and quickly ran to a nearby shop.

There, she bought a experimenting bottle and filled it up with water. Closing the lid, she ran home. She went to her room and dropped the sphere into the water. Tenten closed the lid once again and put the bottle on her stand near her bed.

` Later that evening, she went back to the lake, seeing that it was really pretty. In the afternoon, it shimmers in the sunlight, and in the night, the moonlight reflects off its extremely clear water.

"Thank you for the crystal sphere," Tenten said into the dark. "It will come into much use, thanks once again."

Tenten walked back home, smiling at her discovery. This was going to do. She ran up the stairs and stared into the water. Grinning even more, she went to close the light. She lay on the bed and tossed the blanket over her. And with a sigh of relief, she closed her eyes, wondering what will awake her tomorrow.

**Author's Note: I am really sorry this time for making the wait so long and only having a little chapter. However, I hope you still liked the chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: To Relax For a Day

'Actually,' Tenten thought. 'I used to think that this was all for Neji. Only Neji. But now… would I actually do this only for Neji? Only?'

Tenten grasped her head, 'Ugh… I don't now anymore! Who would this certain someone be that I would help? Would it always be only for Neji? I'm getting confused…'

_"Tenten, it's okay, don't worry…"_

'Neji had always helped me… but is he the only one? The only someone that cared? No… I don't think the only one…' Tenten wondered.

"Tenten!"

She peeked through the window. Eyes widening, smile broadening, she ran out the door to greet Temari.

"Oh! You got better didn't you?" she asked.

"Yup!" Temari replied.

Temari just sort of stood there with a grin on her face.

"So, um…" Tenten stated. "I found this random blue sphere and yeah… I was wondering if you would like to come inside and observe it… You know, I was inspecting it for a long time and nothing really happened, so I wondered if you would like to see it."

"You found something…?" Temari asked. "That's brilliant! I would like to see it, yeah."

"Okay, then, come on in!" Tenten exclaimed rushing inside and running up the stairs.

Giggling, Temari chased after her, curious about this blue sphere thingy.

Holding the door wide open, Tenten said, " Come on!"

"Blue… sphere…" Temari muttered. "Erm… this is interesting… But what should we do with it?"

"I'm probably just going to keep it in that container until it does something…" Tenten replied.

"Oh… well then it should hurry up!" Temari said, putting a stubborn face on.

Tenten laughed at the face. She then went to a drawer to pick up a cloth. She went to the container and lifted the top lid. She took the sphere out of the water at dried it with the cloth. She picked up another cloth and wiped the ball carefully. She smiled as she figured that there still were no scratches. Sighing in relief, she put the sphere back into the water and closed the lid. Then she looked at Temari.

"So… what should we do while we wait for it to change?" Tenten asked.

"Um…I guess we could take a stroll in the park…" Temari suggested.

"Hm… good idea," Tenten complimented.

~At the Park~

"Hey, What are you doing?" Tenten asked leaning over Temari's shoulders.

"Drawing," Temari stated.

"Oh," Tenten said sitting back down. "Hm… wait, didn't you draw the other day? You know when we were trying to figure out the prophecy?"

"Oh yeah…" Temari replied. "I forgot what I drew…hm, what was it?"

"What you drew?" Tenten asked. "Well, let's see… at least, what are you drawing now?"

As she leaned over, Temari tried to cover the picture in the sketchbook. Tenten peeked through, and saw a little part of the face. And with just seeing one eye, the expression, she knew who it was. She smiled to herself, thinking about the good, old times. The picture was a drawing of none other than… Shikamaru…

"Hello, what are you guys doing?" A voice distracted her thoughts.

Tenten and Temari both looked up. Sakura bent down and smiled. They made space for her on the bench and told her that they were taking a break.

"Oh… come to think of it, I did help you right?" Sakura exclaimed. "Do you guys need any help?"

"No… we're fi-

A loud crash was heard and dust covered the park. Someone screamed in pain and then suddenly stopped, making everyone that heard it figure out that someone died. When the dust fell a little bit, Sakura went to see whom it was that died. She bent down and peered through the thick dust. Eyes widening, she shut her eyes, hoping this was a nightmare.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Another One Dead

Sakura clutched her head. "W-why? Why does fate hate us? S-sa…" Shaking her head, teardrops fell from her eyes. She clutched her fists on her knees. The corners of her eyes filled with tears and the number of tears falling doubled. Her head went down, the silent sound of sobbing filling the area near her. Tenten and Temari rushed to her.

"Are you okay?" Tenten asked.

"Y-yeah…" she replied.

"You sure?" Temari stated.

"Mmmhmm…"Sakura confirmed.

But right after that, she looked at the dead human next to her, and she started crying again. Trying to hold it back, she sniffled, but she couldn't manage it. Tears fell again, this time in an even larger amount. The silent weeping later became a louder sound. Tenten and Temari looked at each other, sharing the same expressions. Trying to comfort Sakura, they gave her tissues and used words they believed would make her feel better. When she stopped crying, just simply quietly sniffling, they helped her stand up and told her that it would be okay.

Once at Tenten's house, they put her on the sofa and told her that she would live a sad life if all she did were sob over the loss of Sasuke. She nodded, to afraid to speak. She tried to sleep, but then also prevented herself from doing it incase of dreams of when he was alive… or even nightmares of him bloody and dead. Shaking her head, she simply ended up staring at the ceiling. Sakura was served a cup of tea, and she sat up to sip it. After that one sip, she stared at her reflection in the tea, then put it down and laid back on the couch.

Tenten and Temari exchanged glances and then went back to look at Sakura. She had closed her eyes, trying to sleep. They sat by her, and wished for her to be like them and eventually understand that you can't be sad all the time, also using the term that you will lose cells and then laugh. They laid on mattresses on the floor, and then fell asleep too.

However, unlike them, Sakura wasn't actually asleep. In the middle of the night, she got up and went to see a nearby park.

She sat by the lake, her bare feet cold from the water. She looks down and tries to hold in her tears… plop. The moonlight reflected the silent ripple in the water. Before long, the silent soft tears became a crying sound as tears flow down her face. "I should have saved you before this happened…"

"Why… why…" she whispers. By then, she calmed down, but it was no use… "At least right before…"

"Am I stupid…? I couldn't save him… I'm sorry…"

"Sorry…"

"Sorry…!" she whispered again as she let herself fall into the everlasting cold water of the night. The moon reflected off her pale skin in the deep, clear lake. She clutched her legs and tried to hide like a sphere as she fell, deeper and deeper.

"Know… know that I am sorry…really sorry…I could have saved you…"

"Sorry!" "Why?!" "How come I couldn't save you?" "I'm stupid…" "Idiot…" "Sorry…" "I'm too late…" "Idiots are always too late to realize that they didn't finish their goal…" "I really wanted to bring you back…"

Hurt feelings overflowed in her brain. And… even so, she didn't let one thing get into her mind. She let every feeling into her except for the feeling that she was stupid doing this. **Gasp**

Her mouth was wide open as she ran out of oxygen. She fell into the lake's deeper water headfirst, unconscious. She wanted to die… A person who couldn't save a friend is worthless… right? She thought that, forgetting about everything or her surroundings. Only thinking about his death and how she couldn't do anything before it happened.

But… she really got the wrong idea, didn't she?


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Back to Practice

"Sakura!"

"Sakura!"

"Sakura?"

"Hey, Temari… where did Sakura go?"

"Huh?"

"Sakura… disappeared."

"What? Don't tell me…"

**Gasp** 'Air! I need air!'

Sakura strained her fingers until they could just barely grab the side of the rock. She pushed off from the wall and started swimming upwards. 'Hurry…'

As she was surfacing, she realized that she was in the middle of the pond where there was nothing to hold onto. She swam to the edge of the pond, only thinking about surviving. She grasped the cold edge, but she was wet and her fingers slipped from her grip.

Sakura's eyes widened, as she started to fall. Then, she felt her fingers hook onto something warm. She got a good hold of it and surfaced again. Then she realized what the warmth was. It was a hand. To be exact, Tenten's hand.

"Sakura! That was very dangerous!"

"Yeah, what were you thinking?"

Sakura looked down at herself. 'Yeah, what was I thinking…'Saving Sasuke is in the past. She can't suicide for this…

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"Well," Tenten said. "We're just glad you're alright…"

"Yeah," Temari smiled.

They all went back to Tenten's room and relaxed. Sakura dried herself off with a warm towel.

"Hey…"

"Hm?"

"You know… could I um… join you guys with the reincarnation thing? I want to revive Sasuke, too…"

"Yeah, sure! We wouldn't mind."

"Thanks…"

Sakura smiled to herself. 'I guess… you really do learn something new every day… Today I learned that I should be more aware of myself no matter what I feel.'

"Hey, Sakura, want to eat breakfast with us?"

"Uh… Sure."

Tenten got up and made some pancakes, enough for all of them to fill their stomachs.

After their breakfast, they went to the grave. They found some things to test their healing abilities on, just for practice. True enough, all of them had perfected the healing jutsu. Each grinning to themselves they nodded to each other. Their practice test was finished.

**Author's note: Sorry for the long time before this upload. I am also sorry about the short chapter...**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Until Then

They finished their work. Now all there is is the final step. The finale. To heal the ones they choose.

But… until then, there is time. So… all they could do was wait. They couldn't rush either, because that could hurt them forever. This forbidden jutsu was one that took time. A really long time. And they were the first to finish this fast. In fact, many never made it.

"Aw, man! I thought we could hurry up and heal them!"

"I know right."

"Yeah, this is boring."

"Waiting is such a pain…"Temari complained.

"Well, you'll have to deal with it," Tenten replied.

"I know, I know… but…" Temari answered.

"No buts!" Sakura commented.

"Ugh…"Temari sighed. "You guys are no help at all."

After that, Sakura and Tenten simply giggled. And… that was their daily life. Basically just chitchatting with their friends.

"Hey, when do you think the time will come?"

"I have no idea."

"Just guess."

"You go first."

"Hey, I asked you the question."

"Truth is, I don't know. Maybe about two months, or so…"

"That's a lot."

"Yeah, a really long time, considering we were hoping to do it today."

"Darn."

Tenten stared out the window.

'Yeah… when will it be the time?'

'However long it is, I hope it is soon,' Sakura thought, also gazing through the glass.

What they didn't know, however, was that some bonds were severely damaged. Not to mention that they had no idea what could have happened… when they were dead.

**Author's Note: sorry for the long wait and short chapter. However, I made some new plans for the story to try to make it more interesting. I hope you enjoyed it!**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Revival

After visiting their lost friends every week, they could tell something was off on the second day of the third month. There was an aura that felt… like it was time…? They set off, one girl for each friend. At this time, they faced the fact of seeing their lost friend dead again. But… saving them was still worth it… right?

After hauling the people out of the grave and onto the ground, they began their medical ninjutsu. First starting off with the basic, teal-colored healing technique, then a more complicated technique. They concentrated most of their chakra, making sure not to use all of it. And for the curse part in the scroll, the girls changed the normal technique into one where the chakra rotates from purple, to blue, to green, and then repeating. As the colors rapidly changed, they knew that they weren't using enough of their concentration.

Then the chakra turned back to turquoise as the color spread throughout the humans' body. The chakra started spreading as bright light enveloped the area. The girls covered their eyes, as they slowly couldn't see anything but the white. Finally starting from the middle of the light, a hole spread and they could see again.

"We… we did it…" Sakura whispered.

"Yeah…"

The boys sat up, completely unaware of the surroundings. They just sat there, seemingly wondering why they were in a graveyard.

They glanced at each others, at they girls, and then at themselves.

The girls exchanged questioning glances.

"Um…" Tenten started.

The boys turned their gazes to her.

"Eh… are you alright?"

They slowly nodded, wondering why she was asking them this. Or maybe… why was she even talking to them.

They had no idea. Nothing really made sense anymore. They just sat there in silence, glancing at the ground.

'What is going on?' they all wondered, even the girls.

The silence lasted for over two minutes, and it was becoming really awkward.

"Say…" Shikamaru said.

"Hm…?" Temari replied.

"Never mind…"

"Ah…" Sasuke stated.

Sakura looked at him, "What…?"

"You know…" Neji said.

"…" Tenten just stood there.

The boys all stared at the girls strangely.

"Who are you three?" they asked in unison.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Searching the Mind

(Finale)

"Wait…what?"

"We said… who are you?"

The girls froze, after hearing those words.

'They don't… remember us…?"

"Um… I guess… before you were revived…"

"Before we were revived…? I don't remember anything back then," Neji replied.

"We… were revived…? I don't remember dying…" Shikamaru answered.

"Oh… well… I guess it was a long time ago…" Temari replied.

"Yeah…" Sakura agreed.

"Well then, who are you girls?" Sasuke asked.

"We're your… I guess we could say 'old comrades'?" Tenten said.

"Old… comrades…?" Shikamaru asked.

"You mean… you three were our teammates…" Neji answered.

"Yeah," Tenten stated. "Do you guys remember that you were shinobi and in Konoha we had three-man squads?"

The trio nodded their heads.

"So you just don't remember the details," Tenten reassured. "Okay, I'm Tenten, the only girl in Team Guy's squad. Also the squad you, Neji were in."

"I'm Sakura. I was from Team Kakashi / team 7. That was the squad Sasuke was in."

"I'm Temari. I was from Sunagakure, so I wasn't in any of your squads, but I was an ally to your village and I was on assigned to be Shikamaru's partner."

"…"

"Have you taken the information in yet?"

"Ah… yeah…?"

"Well… Actually, I'm not sure that you can get your memory back, so I would suggest you first rest. If it doesn't come back after a long time, maybe you could just live your lives as who you are this instant. And someday, your memory may come back," Sakura smiled.

"Someday…?" Sasuke whispered.

"Yeah, and if it never comes back, just remake friends with everyone and start your life again…" Sakura answered.

"Redo it?" Neji asked.

"So… we just start our lives again and pretend this is who we are…?" Shikamaru asked.

"At that time, it will be who you are. You won't pretend anymore," Temari replied.

"Yeah," Tenten agreed.

"I get it," Neji stated. "So first we have to rest, right?"

"Uh… yeah," Temari agreed.

After an awkward silence, the boys thanked them for giving them and understanding and left. Since they left to go rest, the girls were left, uncertain of what to do.

"What to do, what to do, what to do…" The girls all muttered. "What to do~!"

There was really nothing for them to do specifically, so they just decided to go rest themselves. After all, they did have a long day.

After meeting up the next day, the six of them went to live there lives together once again. They couldn't be happier than to have their old friends back.

The End


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